Media Releases

Press Release: South Africa's war against TB - 2nd November 2012.

In 2010 South Africa had a tuberculosis (TB) incidence rate of 981 per 100 000 people. The only country with a higher rate was Swaziland at 1 287 per 100 000. The United Arab Emirates had the lowest rate at 3 per 100 000. This is according to an analysis of international TB data conducted by the South African Institute of Race Relations.

Press Release: Statement by the SAIRR on the police's commitment to fight criminality in its ranks - 15 February 2011.

Yesterday morning the Institute released a report titled Broken Blue Line – The Involvement of the South African Police Force in Serious and Violent Crime. The report accessed the extent to which police officers where often themselves implicated in committing serious and violent crimes. It also suggested a number of policy proposals to assist the police in dealing with the problem.

Press Release: Nearly 200 killed in strike action in 13 years - 21st January 2013.

Some 181 fatalities occurred in strike violence between January 1999 and October 2012. A further 313 people were injured and over 3 058 arrests made during the period. This is according to figures compiled by the South African Institute of Race Relations using print media reports. They are contained in the latest South Africa Survey, published in Johannesburg this week.

Press Release: Ten years for unlicensed hawking - 24th April 2013.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has unveiled plans to restrict hawking which go far beyond anything the National Party government did in its efforts to control black business, says the South African Institute of Race Relations in a submission made to the DTI last week.

Press Release: The debt capital of South Africa - 15th January 2013.

Gauteng has the highest consumer debt per capita of all nine provinces and accounts for almost half of total consumer debt held in South Africa. The average individual in Gauteng owes R4 260. This is according to the South Africa Survey, to be published by the South African Institute of Race Relations in Johannesburg next week.

Press Release: Too few maths teachers - 17th April 2013.

A total of 84 high schools across the country did not offer mathematics for grade 10, 11 and 12 in the 2012 academic year, primarily as a result of a shortage of suitably qualified maths teachers. This accounts for 1.3% of all high schools (public and independent) that wrote the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination last year.

Press Release: Unionisation buoyed by public sector - 4th March 2013.

A third of all workers in the formal, non-agricultural sector in South Africa belong to a trade union. This is according to figures compiled by the South African Institute of Race Relations. By contrast, the rate of unionisation in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) group of countries in 2011 was 18%. The rate of unionisation refers to the percentage of workers belonging to a trade union as a proportion of total people employed.

Press Release: Walking down the aisle a path less travelled - 6th February 2013.

The number of marriages registered every year is declining despite an increasing population. Over a period of close to a decade, the number of civil and customary marriages registered every year has dropped by nearly 10%. This is according to the latest South Africa Survey, published by the South African Institute of Race Relations in Johannesburg recently.

Press Release: Where do all the condoms go? 27th March 2013.

The condom distribution target was missed by 60% in the 2011/12 financial year according to the South African Institute of Race Relations. Some 399 million condoms, both male and female, were distributed, against a target of just over one billion.